Major Investor Tells SEC It Wants to Sell SC Bancorp of Anaheim

A major stockholder of SC Bancorp, which owns one of Orange County’s largest community banks, said Friday it’s seeking a sale of the holding company because of disappointing financial results.

New Jersey-based Basswood Partners LP, which has a 9.6% stake in SC Bancorp, disclosed its intentions in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SC Bancorp owns Southern California Bank.

Basswood said it sent a letter asking the company’s board of directors to provide a list of shareholders. The company also said that it is unaware of any meaningful prospects for financial improvement.

An SC Bancorp executive said the company has undergone a turnaround, and that management opposes a sale.

“Management does not believe that this is a good time to sell the bank,” said David McCoy, the holding company’s chief operating officer.

The bank, which has loans and other assets totaling about $460 million, wracked up losses totaling $4.1 million in 1992 and 1993, made $2.7 million in 1994, but slipped back last year to $869,000 when it took stiff charges to clean up its loan portfolio.

For the first half of this year, the company reported earnings of $1.7 million, more than double the $775,000 earned a year ago.

“We’re in a good market, we have a good position in the marketplace, and we think things will continue to improve,” McCoy said.

McCoy said late Friday that the company hadn’t yet received the Basswood letter requesting a list of stockholders, but the board would meet this week to consider the request.

SC Bancorp’s stock closed Friday at $7.625 a share, unchanged for the day, in trading on the American Stock Exchange.

Dow Jones News Service contributed to this report.